Fooling around in Tryon

Saturday

Apr 6, 2013 at 6:14 PM

On a recent trip to Landrum, S.C., George and Yvette Rash headed back home to Hendersonville on some back roads. Those roads led them through Tryon.

Joey Millwood

On a recent trip to Landrum, S.C., George and Yvette Rash headed back home to Hendersonville on some back roads. Those roads led them through Tryon.“We came up the back roads and saw all the ties,” George Rash said. Ties were strung together from light pole to light pole on Trade Street through the heart of Tryon. They were there for the 8th Annual Tryon April Fools Festival that took place on Saturday.The couple was standing on the corner of Maple and Trade, anticipating the parade that would celebrate the silly holiday. “We wanted to see all the tomfoolery,” Yvette Rash said.Tryon celebrated the jokester holiday in style. People dressed up in costumes and old cars joined the parade through town, and there were outhouses on wheels that would later be raced against one another. After the parade, festival-goers got to experience a “Trashion Show.” Contestants donned recycled goods, including old newspapers, bubble wrap, egg cartons, plastic bags and candy wrappers. The event promoted recycling.The winner of the adults division stole the show. Angie Frazier, a Landrum resident, wore a dress made up entirely of ribbons. The dress was a rainbow of more than a hundred prize ribbons from horse shows. “I'm humiliated by this outfit, but it was a lot of fun,” Frazier joked. The streets were then turned into racing strips as festival-goers raced buggies, strollers, kayaks on wheels and mobile outhouses. The event, which was organized by the Tryon Downtown Development Association, began eight years ago after rain delayed the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, co-chair Cindy Viehman said. A crowd showed up for the event, and it grew from there, she said.“It sort of just clicked and took off,” Viehman said. It's a nice transition from cold weather into the warmer spring and summer, she said. The ties were the idea of Tryon's Bill Jones, committee member Kathleen Carson said. “His dream was to string ties through town,” she said. The ties are good marketing, as evidenced by George and Yvette Rash. The festival is designed for people to be silly and have fun, and Viehman thinks that was a success on Saturday.“We do have fun,” she said.